It has been a long time coming, but the folks at Piper's Pub have finally got the Pub Chip Shop open. Very interesting menu; this is not just a fish and chip joint. I hope they are up to the challenge of turning out good food from many different cuisines. http://thepubchipshop.com/

It has been a long time coming, but the folks at Piper's Pub have finally got the Pub Chip Shop open. Very interesting menu; this is not just a fish and chip joint. I hope they are up to the challenge of turning out good food from many different cuisines.

And it's pretty good. I've been three times now, and they're learning well from a strong starting point. I tried a few things during the soft opening and my only negative impressions were the fact that they seemed to cook everything in the same oil (causing the fries and other items to all taste like seafood) and the prices. On subsequent visits the oil situation appears to have been solved, and they've tweaked the pricing a little too.

To be honest the prices only seem high to me because I'm used to $3 pies and $1 sausage rolls back in the UK. As they have no competition in Pittsburgh for the baked savories, I can hardly complain. They do, of course, have competition on the fish, but reducing the price by a buck works as it's a) Haddock, which is unusual and b) is as good as any other piece of fish I've found in Pittsburgh outside of Lent. The chips are decent; aping the size and shape of a genuine British chippie's output without resorting to the sogginess associated with it. The pies I've tried (Scotch, Steak and Ale, Chicken Curry) have been very good; a little on the dry side but that gives you an excuse to order some of their excellent gravy. The Pierogi Pasty worked surprisingly well and the desserts will come to no surprise to anyone who has eaten inside Piper's.

Next visit will be to try their (newly introduced) pork pie. This will be a tricky test as everyone else trying to do them in the US (aside from English Pork Pie Company in Buffalo) seems to think stuffing pork sausagemeat inside a pie crust is the way to make them; it is not.

I have visited the Chip Shop twice. On my first visit, I was hoping to find that the "doner" on the menu approximated the excellent döners I have had in Germany. I was hoping for too much. You might enjoy their version of the doner, but it is nothing like what you would find in Germany. The second visit I had fish and chips which I liked but never having had that dish in an English pub, cannot vouch for its authenticity.

Yes, Wholey's (pronounced Woolies, for 'Burgh visitors, asking for 'Holeys' will get you either blank stares or directions to St Mary's of Mercy) is very good, and huge for the price though you're wise to stick to the cod. Many local Shop and Saves also carry their cod at the prepared foods counter and whilst it's obviously nowhere near as good after sitting under a heat lamp for a while, if you hit them just after they've prepared it (just before 11am seems to be the sweet spot) it's an acceptable substitute without having to submit yourself to the sundry wiles of the tunnel monsters and their 200,000 metal box minions.